Egg feeding device



DeC- 2 1952 o. c. MEDI-:RER ET AL 2,620,059

' EGG FEEDING DEVICE Filed Jan. 28, 1947 2 SHEETS-*SHEET 1 TTOKNE Y RE TEE@ mD/E wwwqlhhhunwnnhhulll DeC- 2, 1952 o. c." NIEDERER ET AL EGG FEEDING DEVICE 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Filed Jan. 28, 1947 Z6) Z5 E30 Patented Dec. 2, 1952 EGGFEEDINGDEVICE;

Otto -C. :Niederex-, Herbert 0.-Niederer; and-Otto Niederer, Titusville, N. J

Application JanuaryZS, 1947;" lSerial No: 7243868 (opleggen) 11 Claims.-

(Bury invention relates to` mechanism. for; ar-

ranging-:andi feeding-1 eggs so that -they cam be supplied. continuously andiinan. orderly manner i toa ipredetermined point such :as the .eggcreceiv ings. channel; of f an .eggi grader. s and. candler or 1 other.. egg handling. device.V

Many.types.of eggvgrading. and candling devicesaand asimilarjmechanism. require eggstto loev supplied@` thereto.- in; ai, continuous..l prearranged and.` orderly manner. For this ipurposefsuch..desA

vices generally have inclineclitracks. chutes or,

egg :receiving channels.` to.: whichxeggs are supbumpzvery hard 'againsteach other .without dangerfof. breakage Moreovery theirregularvshape.

of `eggs,:.and fthe..V` differences in .size :encountered cause` eggs tor move irregularly .and vin :different directions when they are allowed to i .roll ireely Foi-these reasons :conventional i article. feeding devices cannotloe used lto simply` over :asuriaceia eggs to egg lcandling origradingdevices and similar mechanism.

results :in an .irregular supply ofiftheeggs tothe mechanism, .particularly i when.` one. operatoris requiredftomaintain a.supply' of :eggs-.for two-101 moreI machines or isiinterrupted. :in his work to.` open; or movey other crates .1 ofi eggs :so that .they

mayeb'e transferred to. .the channels.-

.Inaccordancewith our invention mechanism.

is 1.1 provided. which serves 1to :move and :arrange eggs -qi'iicklyw4 and safely andrin .suclra` manner that they :may:befed.,1continuously and regularly 15o-egg grading -andfi candlingdevices orL other mechanism. Thisnis .accomplished by .yieldably advancing the eggs toWardf-'eggV-arranging means or discharging` f means whilezl at the same time surplus eggs are-moved awayr fromf such means so 4asftoy prevent crowding; clogging or.. crushing The-surplus eggs thus `removed `are' returned forf re-supply to-thef egg: advancing.`

off-the eggs.

meansfwherebythey are again presented to the arranging-or f'disch'argefmeans;

One of the objectsoffourinvention yis .to-pro videnovel means for-feeding eggs Ato eggfhandlng mechanism:-

Ithas .been usual instead to employ 4amr-'operator I who removes theV eggs from. au crate;l bucket for. other `source ofvsupplyand` places nthem Joy; hand on. -.the=tracks or 'channels of"` the-egg handling mechanism., Such manual handling of eggs is expensivefandl tedious; and

Another l' object lof-r our; inventionA fissato:insure.- assubstantially continuous supplyaof feggs itolzeggi handling mechanisms whil'esavoidingcbreakageior r injuryuto thezeggs.l

A; further objectofiour .invention sto: provide J improved. :'egg; feedingxrneans iwlf1ich.ser.ve:to-:amv range eggs in an .orderly manner ,f fonfdischargeL therefrom..

A@particular;.objectqoiour invention :is \to.pro.. vide, egg feeding means `capable ofc handling .fav relatively large, volume.:` of eggs.:f. sou-ias to.: .feeda them continuously, rapidly andisin uanfiorderly manner ntoi eggsgrading :.or reggecandling;v devices.

These.I and L other ohjects.=:andl featuresofn our 1- invention zwillj, appear fromK the followingdescripe tion thereof-.in @which :reference f-is4 made.` to the gures of.;` the accompanying drawingsiz.

In the zdrawings1 i Fig. `1 n is `fantop'.l;plan;-rviewi ofc a -ipreferred'iform Fig. 2; is l alyside` 'elevation of: the: constructionra illustrated` in, Fig. 1;; i

Fig.. 3 .1.is z axvertical sectional.; view.; taken 1 ons the -line-.13-3 :of Fig; 1 ;y,

Fig;. 4 l is a .longitudinaly;sectional View; taken.: on the line lll-4 of :Figi 1;' and.l

Fig.;5 is vaftop plan. view of analternativestorm.y of mechanism; embodyingtour .-inventionl.

In. that form t of our: invention; illustrated; in FigsiA 1 gto. 4ther.feeding:mechanism:.embodiesfaf trayor platform;4 2 mounted quon; supports. .4. ands provided;4 at `its i: opposite :si-des, t. with,A rails .x6 for;- preventine-fthe.feggszffrom rolling oithersidesrof; the y. platform.,r Ther platform. is: preferably@ 111.-.

. clinedyat `a @slight :angle -not "eXceeding-abput 11552 Its outer or upper end S is providedmitlmaiguidef rail presenting ,a; curved: innerfsurfacer. l0; for directing eggs inward toward thecentelmof, the.: platform when they aremoved intorcontact. therei withal They opposite,` lowerror.rdischargefendici; the platform,` 2 is locatedzA adjacent: an eggtref. ceiving channel Loli; an egg; handling device not shown).

The construction shown.` in. Figs.: 1 ltof4-is adapt#- ed to supply eggs to.` two f egg receivingffchannels I2 and 'Misueh as the `channels:employed in thef egg..` canclling.:` and @grading device-i11ustrated in- Fig.y 6J of the patenttoY Niederer` etL al. No. 2,246,597. The` channels i-.I 2 and*` Hheachrtonsist` of :a .pair oftrackslwhichl support `the-eggs with their axes. .arranged parallel and Ltransverse. to the tracks-` The eggs roll along the: tracks fof theegg receiving channels asthey.aredischarged from the lower end:ofstheplatfornr and are-thus Supplied tothefegg handlingdevice-` The lplatform 2 is provided with a central divider I6 which extends longitudinally of the platform and separates the eggs passing to the channel I2 from those passing to channel I4. However, the upper end of the divider I6 may be spaced from the upper guide rail 8 so as to permit eggs from one side of the platform to pass over to the other side when eggs are discharged to one of the channels I2 or I4 faster than to the other.

Each side of the platform 2 is provided with an egg advancing belt I8 and a surplus egg removing belt 20. When the feeding mechanism discharges to two channels as shown in Figs. l and 3, the belt I8 may extend beneath the central divider I6 so that a single belt I8 serves both sides of the platform, whereas separate belts are located adjacent the opposite edges of the belt I8. Further, as shown in Fig. 3, the outer edges of the platform are slightly inclined so that the belts 20 present a gentle transverse slope toward belt I8 and tend to cause the eggs to roll inward so that they may be transferred from the egg removing belts 2D to the egg advancing belt I8. The belt I8 passes about an idler pulley 24 `at the upper end of the platform 2 and about a driven pulley 26 adjacent the lower end of the platform. The belt 20 extends about an idler pulley 28 adjacent the upper end of the platform and about the driven pulley 38 adjacent the lower end thereof. The lower run of each of the belts I8 and 2D is located below the platform 2, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3.

The lower discharge end of the platform 2 is provided with egg deflecting rails 32 which extend inward from the sides of the platform and over the egg removing belts 20 toward the egg advancing belt I8. The rails 32 are shaped and inclined to cooperate with deilecting surfaces 34 on the lower portion of the central divider I6 so as to denne egg directing passages 36 which are aligned with the egg advancing belt I8 and the egg receiving channels I2 and I4. The passages 36 are only slightly greater in width than the length of the eggs. The deflecting surfaces thus serve to cause eggs carried by the egg advancing belt I8 to be arranged in single le to move through the passages 36- to the egg receiving channels. Additional deecting means in the form of yieldable fingers 38 are sometimes mounted on the lower portion of the central divider I6 to prevent more than one egg at a time being carried into the throat of the passages 36. However, these deflecting means are seldom used except when grading pullet eggs or other relatively small eggs which may travel side by side on the egg advancing belt.

The belts I8 and 28 are driven by a motor 46 and reduction gear 62. For this purpose a gear 44 is secured to shaft 46 for driving the pulley 38 and a gear 48 is secured to shaft 58 for driving pulley 26 in a direction opposite to that in which pulley 38 rotates. In this way the upper run of belt I8 which overlies the platform 2 is caused to travel continuously toward the lower discharge end of the platform so that eggs resting thereon will be carried into passages 36 and toward the egg receiving channels I2 and I4 for discharge from the machine. At the same time the belts 20 adjacent belt I8 are moved in the opposite direction to carry excess eggs away from the passages 36. Since the eggs can shift and move on the surface of the belt I8 they are yieldably fed into the passages 36 until these passages are filled. Thereafter the excess eggs shift and roll laterally onto the egg removing belts 20 and are carried 4 back up the platform 2 to be returned to the relatively uncrowded upper portion of the egg advancing belt. Those eggs Which are carried all the way to the upper end of the platform 2 by belts 28 are directed inward by the curved surface I6 of the end rail 6 to the egg advancing belt I8 so that they will again be carried toward the lower end of the platform and toward the passages 36 and egg receiving channels I2 and I4. In those constructions wherein the upper end of the central divider is spaced from the curved surface I8 at the upper end of the platform, excess eggs accummulating on one side of the platform may be shifted over to the other side of the platform about the upper end of the divider. In this Way diiferent rates of discharge of the eggs through passage 36 and egg receiving channels I2 and It may occur without producing too great an accumulation of eggs on either side of the platform. Y

The belt I3 preferably is caused to travel slightly faster than the belt 2B so thateggs are carried toward the passages 36 at the lower end of the platform more rapidly than the surplus eggs are moved away from the lower end of the platform. In this Way a continuous supply of eggs is maintained adjacent the lower end of the platform and they are yieldably urged into the passages 36, but there is no danger of crowding or jamming of the eggs which might crush them or cause injury thereto.

The eggs moving through passages 36 ordinarily assume positions in which their axes are parallel and extend transversely of the passage. However, in order to assure such positioning of the eggs and cause those eggs with their axes inclined to each other to shift into parallel positions as they pass through the channel, egg positioning means are generally employed. In the construction shown, the positioning means embodies an element located in .passage 36 and extending transversely of the passage. If desired the positioning means may present one or more projections or ribs which extend transversely of the passage to engage the eggs while they are yieldably urged against the projection by belt I8. The egg positioning means is preferably rotatable so as to present a surface engageable by the eggs which is positively moved in a direction toward the egg receiving channel. The eggs then tend to turn to bring the axes thereof parallel to each other.

The positioning means illustrated is in the form of a rubber collar 52 mounted on the shaft 54 and rotated by the gear 56 through an idler 58 from the gear 48. In this way the positioning element 52 is caused to rotate in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 4 to engage and slightly raise an egg in contact therewith while the egg is being urged forward by the belt I8 and the succeeding eggs in the passage 36. If the egg is in an inclined position when it engages the positioning element it will automatically shift and rotate until its axis is substantially parallel with the shaft 54.

As shown particularly in Fig. 4 the collar 52 may be split so as to present projecting edges 55 and 5I on opposite sides of a recess 59 which extends longitudinally of the shaft 54 and transversely of the channel 36. These edges and recess on the collar further aid in shifting and turning the eggs to arrange their axes parallel and transverse to channel 36.

In some instancespressing members 60 and 62 are employed in combination with the posi- 5i ticningf-.element v'Stilte causexreggseto zbnirged M wardY the'eletti-ent and into :the zrcces 'fbetweeniz the vproj ectionifledges aandzf'lll offtheezsplitfbob larsofas-tooinsure turning/:mire egga intoetrans'-1l and-presentfparallelt eggzengagingvporti'onsmhichr;

bear fagainst fthe :egg 'zin:,zoontactawithitleiiposi ti'oning element movement :of he eforwardmost portion@ oni the: eggaandcauseiait xtofstraightemoutdnto;:thecdee sired: transverse positi'on:.,` The: positioninggele@ m'entl52; as '.itzrotates, alsooservesatosraise',the

eggsJightlywsoothat they rpassifreadilyfonto othef115..y

parallel; tracks.:of-itheseggrreceiying :channels il 2 ,1' andfi |4111. When:thusiipositionediandf:fedftor thea eggszreceiyinggchannels, ,thereggs npass "onetocthef:

eggccandlemorgraderfaor aotherioeggrhandling dee viceawithi Whiohthefeeding mechanis'mrisfiusedgo eggs at any time. Furthermore, when-,'theA-.xeggf 0 feeding `mechanism: is,-,iused toL advanceaeggsrrto two` supply imeans, Ythefaacumulationol eg-grfon r one side of the central rail willcause the-excesseeggs toxoe fdeflectedto the opposite side-of fthe device.. l

In practice-the lconstruction 'shown is designed for :use mithdconventionai egg lifting;y devices aby;` whichfaswhole tray ofo'eggsffrom .az crate may rbc, raised and "deposited on the platform of the egg feeding mechanism.-u Oneehalf of the eggs thus removed fromna' crater'wilLr then be deposited on one'side of theecentral'.rail,l6, while the other half of the eggs willbe'deposited on the other side of the central;vraiflu An'zoperator can then place three dozen eggs on the platform ina single operation; and' without A"employing fspeciaL care in positioning the eggs to b'efe'dtoth'e sup-'- ply meanss. Afsingle ioperatorvcanrthen handle the needs of four or six machines very leasily;

tinuous andi-, automatic suppla'zz-i` of eggsetos be handleidi;

In the construction illustratedin FigsV `5;.a` single egg supply means 'il Il Fis provided andcthe` platform .12 .-is formed 'withanzextens'ion M that is-inclined.l'toward the egg returning belti20iof thefassembly,. The eggadvancin'gffbelt lllfserves to movethefzeggs along the platformtoothe eine clined Lrails?! 6 and 18 whichrdefinefa passagea andmtoathewegg msn-011mgl,L element agg- With 60facenti,.ppsitiorr,toreceive the `eggs. to,be. ,fe'd,

this construction conventional egg lifting devices may be employed to place a full tray of eggs on the platform, and its extension 14 whereupon the eggs on the extension will roll inward :1, VThe .fbarsfthus A.retard ffdnwardilof 1 y en'rbodimenisfofsour iinventlon-,z itzfwillf.ibefzapparf'V ent ith'at numerous;changestmayt be :made :Lingthes form-,tconstructionoand :arrangement `of :the-.eleamentss:emplc1'yed,v and: inzzviewi` thereof: it :slfiouldi verse-positions infpassages. Thecaressingelecr 5 fbeiunderstood that ther-form.` ofnour ,-irwentiorc;` shown in the drawings is intended .to:.be:'illus-....

tra-tive only `and iis snot.l Aintended Stof. limit :the scopenofiour'invention;

We claim:

platform;A theI latter'belti being inclined transverse-Iyer the platformsoth'ateggs thereon--tend-` to Uroll fftransverselyfonto the `belt "which A`is adl *cated adjacent-saiddower portion of Atherplatf-4H 1 formdeectingmeans located on opposite 4sides" of "the belt which is movable c toward' thieflower end` of the platformandserving rto'` deiine agpasv sage 'not `substantially"greater'in1 \1vidth:tl1anthe 512e Alanger-of, the eggs :beingfedfandfextending fram.l said platform to said "channel, and means' insaid4 passage engageable 'byj'eggs passingA therethrough and positioned to raise "each"l egg Vslig1f1tl3`r-so `a's,.to all'ow the 'eggito turntwhere necessary whereby saideggS Yarefarranged with their axes substantially parallel.:

2. Egg feeding mechanism comprising Aan: in,- clihed platformhavinga pair of egg movingbelts.

C(supported on the upper surfacethereof .withtheir "adjacentedgeslocated so `that said "belts coopy crate ,topresent la sub'stanti'all'ycontinuous surfv .,falcein positiongtoreceive the eggs to beffedg.

means :for movingone of said belts toward jth'e whldwer end 'of said platformmeans formovingthe otl'ier :belt 'away from the lower end` of 'said plat-1,

form; the lattergbelvbeing .inclined transversely ofthe `platformuso.` th`ateggs thereon tend`tox roll'..transversely onto tloe'belt` which is advancadjacent said'lower .endof 'the platform, `:deflect--` ingjmeans located `on-opposite sidesjof 'th'ebelt whioh"ismovable toward `the lower end of "the platform and 'servingto define a passagenot sub' lclined platform having a'pairof egg moving-belts supported on the upper surface thereof withtheir adjacent edges .A located so. f that said'p belts cosI operate to presenta substantiallycontinuous sur:

means for vmoving one of said belts toward the lower end of said platform, means for moving the other belt away from the lower end of said platform, the latter belt being inclined transto be carried by the belt I8 toward the lower end 65 Versely of the platform e0 that eggs there@ tend of the platform. At the same time the belt 20 will serve to move the eggs from the platform to the deflecting surface 84 and thence to the feeding belt I8. As in the construction shown in to roll transversely onto the belt which is advancing the eggs, an egg receiving channel located adjacent said lower end of the platform, deecting means located on opposite sides of the Figs- 1 to 4. the belt 20 Serves to move excess 70 `belt which is movable toward the lower end of eggs away from the inclined portions 16 and 13 of the rails to prevent crowding or jamming of the eggs as they pass to the egg arranging element supply means.

the platform and serving to define a passage not substantially greater in width than the length of the eggs being fed and extending from the lower end of said platform to said channel, an

While we have shown and described typical 75 element engaeeable by eggs in Said passage and 1.2 Eggefeeding-1mechanism1comprisingen irr-4 cli'ned platformh'aving-'a pairoffegg lmoving-belts"zL supported on= the-eupper#surface-thereof; means f foremovingf-'one -of="said z-belts ``toward the lowerf portioniof- LVsaid platfor-m-,- means 1for=movingf th`e 'other-belt nawaylrfrom `thef-lwerA portion of fsaidf- 45;; ing the-eggs, yan eggreceiving channel located?A having a projection thereon extending transversely of said channel, and means for rotating said element to cause said projection to engage eggs in the passage and to cause them to assume positions in which their long axes are substantially parallel.

4. Mechanism for feeding eggs to an egg handling device comprising a pair of parallel belts having their` adjacent edges located so that the belts cooperate to present a substantially continuous surface in position to receive the eggs to be fed, an egg receiving channel, means for moving one of said belts toward said channel, means for moving the other belt away from said channel, and means located on opposite sides of the belt which is movable toward said channel and serving to define a passage not substantially greater in width than the length of the eggs to be fed and extending from said belt to said channel, the belt which is movable away from said channel being transversely inclined so that eggs thereon will tend to roll toward the belt which is movable toward said channel.

5. Mechanism of the character defined in claim 4 wherein the belt which is movable toward said channel is caused to travel faster than the belt which is movable away from said channel.

6. Mechanism of the character defined in claim 5 wherein means are located in position to engage eggs in said passage to arrange said eggs with their axes substantially parallel and extending transversely of the passage.

7. Egg feeding mechanism comprising a pair of parallel belts positioned with their edges closely adjacent and presenting upper faces which cooperate to denne a substantially nat surface over which eggs may be rolled freely from one belt to the other, said surface being of suiiicient area to receive a group of eggs to be sorted, means forming a rim extending about said surface to hold eggs thereon an egg receiving channel in alignment with one of said belts, means for moving the latter belt in a direction toward said channel, means for moving the other belt in a direction away from said channel whereby excess eggs moved toward said channel may roll onto the other belt and be carried away from the channel by said other belt means defining an egg directing passage in alignment with said latter belt and said channel, and means in said passage engageable by eggs passing therethrough and formed to raise each egg slightly so as to allow the egg to turn when necessary whereby eggs moving through said passage will be arranged with their axes parallel.

8. Mechanism of the character defined in claim 7 wherein a deilector is located in advance of said channel and projects over the belt which advances the eggs so as to prevent more than one egg at a time from being directed into said channel from the egg advancing belt.

9. Egg feeding mechanism comprising a pair of parallel belts positioned with their edges closely adjacent and presenting upper faces which cooperate to denne a substantially flat surface over which eggs may be rolled freely from one belt to the other, said surface being of suiiicient area to receive a group of eggs to be sorted, means forming a rim extending about said surface to hold eggs thereon an egg receiving channel including a pair of parallel tracks positioned in alignment with one of said belts, means for moving the latter belt ata f predetermined speed and in a direction toward said channel, means for moving the other belt in a direction away from said channel whereby excess eggs moved toward said channel may roll onto the other belt and be'carried away from the channel by said other belt means defining an egg directing passage at least part of which overlies said latter belt and extending from said latter belt to said tracks and means in said passagey for raising each egg slightly during its movement through said passage to allow the egg to turn when necessary as it is urged onward vby said belt and succeeding eggs in the passage for delivery of the eggs to said tracks with their axes arranged parallel and transverse to the tracks. i

10. Mechanism of the type denedV in claim '7 wherein the egg receiving surface is inclined toward said channel.

11. Mechanism of the type defined in claim 7 wherein the belt which carries excess eggs away from said channel is inclined transversely so that eggs tend to roll therefrom` onto the belt which is moving toward the'receivingchannel.

OTTO C. NIEDERER. HERBERT O. NIEDERER. OTTO NIEDERER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 290,715 Steiner Dec. 25, 1883` 398,651 Peters Feb. 26, 1889 882,795 v Paul Mar. 24, 1908 v 952,352 Pieper Mar. 15, 1910 1,015,319 Jefferies et al Jan. 23, 1912 1,754,047 Reaves Apr. 8, 1930 2,003,097 Vickery May 28, 1935 2,198,594 Mundy Apr. 30, 1940 2,242,531 Marx May 20, 1941 2,303,755 Newton Dec. l, 1942 2,404,232 Hunter July 16, 1946 

